The Rogers Park community faces some particular challenges when it comes to educating its children. To start with, many of the kids in Rogers Park are from low or moderate-income families whose only real option for their education is the Chicago Public Schools. In addition, Rogers Park is a “gateway” community, housing children from a wide array of backgrounds, including immigrant and refugee families who have settled in Rogers Park from across the globe.

The Chicago Public Schools face many challenges; these are compounded in communities with limited financial resources and diverse populations. Despite these difficulties, a lot of good things are happening in the Chicago Public Schools, and in Rogers Park in particular. One outstanding example of this positive change is what is occurring right now at Sullivan High School.

Sullivan is a CPS facility that had been struggling for years with low achievement and declining enrollment. It is also a neighborhood institution that has stood for decades. Indeed, some of our RPBG members are proudly alumni, or have friends and relatives who attended.

RPBG Commits to Sullivan High

The Rogers Park Builders Group collaborated with Sullivan High School to build out a life skills classroom for Chicago Public Schools’ "low incidence" program (servicing mostly students dealing with Autism, Down Syndrome and mild to severe cognitive disabilities). With more than $30,000 in donations secured throughout the summer and with the help of the community, the Rogers Park Builders Group was able to construct and equip the room with a washer/dryer, a full kitchen, and a Murphy bed. The low incidence students are now able to learn the ways of everyday living as they prepare themselves for real life opportunities.